Gotcha Covered !

Although I have no shortage of published work, this cover for the February 2008 issue of Real Gainz Fitness Magazine is one I happen to really like...


The photo was from a shoot I did with bodybuilder Sean Jones on a beach in Marina Del Rey, California.

Thanks and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?"

5 Super Bowl Rings!

One of my favorite shoots this year was just recently. I was asked by Private Clubs Magazine to photograph Ron Botchan, senior NFL official and holder of 5 Super Bowl rings!

Private Clubs Magazine is the magazine of ClubCorp, the world leader in private clubs. Internationally, ClubCorp's affiliates own or operate nearly 170 golf courses, country clubs, private business and sports clubs, and resorts.


Ron is a member for many years at Desert Falls Country Club in Palm Desert, California where he plays golf every day when he is not away at a game. So when it came to shooting this feature it seemed fitting to marry golf and football. And we had to show off those Super Bowl rings.

It was a fun shoot and I will get to post some more photos soon. And Ron Botchan is more than a great guy and not the gruff kind of persona you might expect of a guy long since yelling at NFL players.

However I will tell you a secret. I was holding on to his rings for him in my camera bag while we did some other shots. And at the end of the day I almost walked off with them! Ron quickly took charge and called time out. No first down on that one!

Thanks and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?"

Always Working But Someone Has To Do It!

I had to get a few photos out to a publication today from my studio shoot with Maria Rogers, so I thought I would just post one on my blog in case some of you might like to take a peek...


For you photographers out there, this was shot on a Canon 1DMkII with the 70-200mm f2.8 L lens. Lighting was Profoto. I also spent a little time today evaluating which software I prefer for high quality RAW image processing. We have a lot of choices such as Aperture, Canon DPP, and Capture One among many. And different needs might require different software. For processing large numbers of RAW images I have been using and do like Aperture. For the best results with individual Canon files I seem to prefer the Canon software. But I have to keep looking for the best way to do things and everything changes quickly. So I will be working some more with Capture One to see if that is better in some ways.

Thanks for looking and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?"

For Prints, Cheaper Is Not As Good!

A friend of mine brought me some prints last week to look over, let's call it a test of print quality...



My friend is a trusted and talented guy in the photography business and he was recently asked to do a very large print project. He has excellent technical skills and works with me often. He is also a guy who likes to save a buck. Anyway he brought me three prints to look at, all printed from the same file but at three different places. All 8x12, one from Costco, one from a pro lab out of state and another at Buckeye Color Lab in Ohio. In fairness I will tell you that I referred him to Buckeye, they are a friend and client.

But as he presented these prints to me, I did not know which print was from which lab. And I am sure it was his plan to show me that the cheaper choice was just as good. Well it only took me a few moments to start picking two of them apart as compared to the third. Let me tell you that the photo was the interior of a room and very well shot.

First I quickly saw a lack of detail in the shadow areas on two of them, one worse than the other. There was also a lack of sharpness overall, they looked muddy. The lettering on the labels on some bottles in the background on the one print were much sharper than the other two. And the same went for the louvres in the blinds on a window as well as the scene through the window. But a very big point was the color and saturation on a table which was the centerpiece of the photo. It was a bright, very real, red in one print and a varying muted red in the other two. The difference was distinct.

Simply stated, the one good print could have very well been a page of a magazine and the other two were not the same quality. The one print would evoke a response of 'Wow' and the other two, well, you would just go on looking at the next page.

I am really happy to tell you that the winner was printed by Buckeye Color Lab. I am sure happy about that, otherwise I would not be blogging this, that's for sure! And yes it was more expensive than the other two. My friend asked me "Is it worth the difference?". Oh yes! If I want my photos to look good, I don't need a lesser quality print to handicap me. I would have gone back to my photo and wondered what I did wrong because it did not look as good as I would have remembered the scene when I shot it!

And finally this is an interesting point. The print from Costco and from the other lab were both slightly smaller on the long side from about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch. They were both printed on Fuji Crystal Archive but slightly short. Is it a way to economize on paper? I don't know, but I sure would not like that especially if I were planning on them being in a designed book or album. The print from Buckeye was printed on a Fuji Pro paper that was not only full size but slightly heavier. It has a much better feel to it.

So that is my print test. I was not expecting it and the results were interesting and more obvious than I would have predicted. You do get what you pay for and you will never see me running in to Costco to get my "professional" work printed along with buying a big box of frozen chicken breasts and 200 rolls of toilet paper!

Thanks and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?"

Winner!

As part of a multi part assignment I am doing with one of my favorite fitness models, Ava Cowan, I was on hand to photograph her winning her latest figure competition in Los Angeles just last night...



After coming West from her win in Miami just two weeks ago, Ava has scored another big win. A great attitude, a knockout body and looking just beautiful, Ava took the Figure title at Figure Hollywood. And more than anyyone else by a long way, the crowd just loved her. No one came even close, not only in the judging, but also in the applause and and the fans chanting “AVA” “AVA” “AVA”. It was a big win for Ava Cowan…

Thanks and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?"

Free! Yeah Right!

As professional photographers one of the things we are constantly faced with is the myriad of people who want us to work for free for one reason or another. Now there might be times where I might actually do that, but simply stated it has to really mean something to me that actually means it really isn't free.

But for the most part we hear things like, "You will get photo credit" and "It is great exposure". Or sometimes we hear "We don't have much of a budget". Well I already have more "photo credits" then I could ever count and a few million people see my photos in any given month. And finally I am not responsible for your budgeting mistakes.

With that said the following video was recently posted on the Photo Business News and Forum Blog by John Harrington. John has one of the best photography business blogs you could ever want to read.

Anyway, it is a video by writer Harlan Ellison ("Outer Limits" "Star Trek") from his upcoming documentary "Dreams With Sharp Teeth". It is a few laughable minutes as he describes a major studio attempting to get something for free. You gotta watch this one!



Thanks and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?"

And Film...

My last most recent post discusses my different uses of cameras including film. So I thought I would post a couple of examples...


This was shot on the roof of the Marriott Hotel in Marina Del Rey, California. The camera was the Mamiya 645AFDII with the Mamiya 150mm f/3.5 lens. The film was 120 Kodak Porta 160nc. There is no "Photoshop" work other than resizing and slight sharpening for online display. This was from a 50 megabyte drumscan.



A simple man made pond, this was photographed on Ilford Delta 100 35mm black and white negative film. The camera was the Contax G1 with the 45mm f/2 lens. Again, there is no "Photoshop" work other than resizing and slight sharpening for online display. And this was from only a low resolution roll scan at 5 megabytes when processed.

Thanks and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?"

Cameras.... Action!

One of the things that I am asked very often is what camera I shoot with. Well it is not just one camera but a few. Which I shoot with is based primarily on the needs of the shoot or project.


The Canon 5D is working out to be my favorite "35mm" size camera. It is full frame and a very respectable 12.8 megapixels. But beyond that it produces what I think are much better images with superior color, contrast and sharpness. It is also a smaller and lighter camera than some, making it less tiresome to work with. The big bright viewfinder is complimented by a good size and sharp LCD on the back. I like using the 5D on advertising and commercial shoots where I need quick turnaround. And for events such as bodybuilding competitions, or weddings for that matter, it is just superior producing beautiful photos.


The Canon 30D works as my backup to the 5D. At 8.2 megapixels it also produces files of a size large enough to create very quality large format prints. It also has a hidden advantage; the 1.6x multiplier, because it is not a full frame sensor, gives you a longer reach. So a 200mm becomes effectively 320mm but at the same f-stop. There are times that is a serious advantage.


This will surprise most of you. This is the Contax G1 35mm rangefinder and it is a film camera. If I take a camera with me for a day excursion, this is the camera. Fast and compact I especially like shooting black and white film. My current choice is Ilford Delta 100. But I have some Kodak and Fuji color films waiting their turn. I would have no problem deciding to take this camera out for a casual portrait or even a candid type fashion shoot where I wanted something fairly fast operationally.



The Mamiya 645AFDII is by far my favorite camera for advertising, portfolio and editorial feature shoots. The huge bright viewfinder is an amazing pleasure to use. And I do seriously like using it with film. Those big images coming out of this camera seem to have a quality and feel that is much different than digital. Textures in clothing are alive, the smallest of details are as they should be and not pixelated in big enlargements. Skin qualities and color and so very perfect regardless of the type of lighting. Everytime I get a project back from this camera with film my mind is filled with wonder with the richness and beauty of the photos.


Despite my choice of film for the Mamiya, the Leaf Medium Format Digital Back is way up on my list of choices to use for advertising and commercial work where I need quick turnaround. I have been using a Leaf 65 which produces a 16 bit image file at 28 megapixels. Skin colors are beautiful, details exceptional and the file size is about as large as your might need. I think that there is no question that 16 bit imaging of the colors certainly makes a huge difference. It also has a huge LCD screen and it is very easy to operate.

Of course I have an assortment of lenses to go with each camera but probably not as many as others. I am not that much of an equipment geek and only really own what I really use and need.


This camera is my favorite fun camera of the moment. The Polaroid Spectra instant film camera. I had two of these stuck away in a box and happened to run acros them. So for laughs I bought a few packs of film (yes they still make it) and for the last few months have been shooting and buying more film packs and shooting. I am now thinking of putting up a display of these photos and also getting a scanner so I can put some online. There is something about that instant print I find very intriguing. So watch here on my blog for them. You might be surprised.

Thanks for visitng. If you have any questions send me an e-mail to SecondFocus@mac.com. And keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?"

"...less opportunistic photos and become more thoughtful"

I am quoting my friend Hunter here because it very much fits much of my thinking in the last week and much longer. I had passed on an excellent book to Hunter who is an avid amateur photographer. The book is "Idos+Believers" by Jocelyn Bain Hogg and is an exhibit of some wonderful street photography as well as excellent and creative portraits and editorial work.

The advent of digital photographer has perhaps brought nothing more than mediocrity to the masses and we see much masqueraded as photography when it is not much more than button pushing. Point an expensive camera in the general direction and let fly, maybe there will be something good.

I hold that photography should be a much more thoughtful process. It is indeed thought of as an art. Even as journalism it is indeed an art. One only needs to consider the photograph of the raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima by Joe Rosenthal to consider it as art. A man who knew what he was doing recognized the moment and took the photo.

So I believe Hunter is right, although opportunistic can be good, it must be thoughtful. By example this photograph of the horse, head following the person moving toward the stairs. An opportunity but thought out by watching. Only one frame...


And the opportunity of standing on a hotel patio looking out towards the Santa Monica Pier at night. One frame...


The greatest images in the history of photography are for the most part a product of vision and not an accident of thousands of frames shot on a digital camera. While I certainly shoot digital for much of my work, it is my intent too, to "become more thoughtful".

By the way, the two photos here were shot by me with a Contax G1 rangefinder camera with a 45mm lens. The film was 35mm Ilford Delta 100.

Thanks and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?"

And Thanks Hunter!

Back From Las Vegas And The Olympia...

It was a busy September and I am now back from 5 days in Las Vegas for the Olympia 2007 BodyBuilding, Figure and Fitness competitions on assignment for BodyBuilding.com. There was also a huge health and fitness expo in the Las Vegas Convention Center. The Mr. Olympia title was won for the second time in a row by Jay Cutler, who for years was always the runner up behind 8 time winner, Ronnie Coleman. This is Jay on stage at the Orleans Arena taking in his big win.



Thanks and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?"

On The Road To Las Vegas And The Olympia...

No I am not in the bodybuilding competition! This is not another "The Road To…" video series or a "Road To..." movie with Bob, Bing and Dorothy. But I am on the way to Las Vegas tomorrow to shoot photos at the Olympia on assignment for BodyBuilding.com. So this is me, so you can say Hi as you see me moving about the Expo or the Orleans Arena typically carrying way too much camera equipment. Any volunteers for camera bag carrying!



I really would enjoy meeting more of you in person, so please do stop me and say hello. And if you have not thought about going to the Olympia, I really must say you should do it. Even if you just go to the Expo for a day, you will have a great time and you will see more than you can imagine!

Thank you to my friend and fellow photographer Nancy Nimmons for the photo of me. This was from a shoot on location on the beach in Marina Del Rey, California.

Thanks again and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More…?"

Slow down, you move too fast...

"Slow down, you move too fast, you got to make the morning last..." from the 59th Street Bridge Song by Simon and Garfunkel back in 1966. Well what does that have to do with photography? As I have been thinking lately, a great deal.

Digital photography has allowed us to do a great deal, get a lot of things right we perhaps would have missed and deliver the images within even moments of shooting them. But perhaps all of this at times at the expense of some creativity and losing the look and reliabilty that we have experienced in shooting film.

The actress Sharon Stone said of shooting with the famous Hollywood photographer, George Hurrell, to paraphrase... George would shoot three frames and each was a masterpiece. Helmut Newton's wife relates that an art director once compained that Helmut only shot three photos for a project. To which Helmut replied... 'Well they only need one'.

I will not be ending shooting with digital and actually have expanded my digital equipment with larger sensor size and use of medium format digital backs. But I am expanding my use of film for a different look and feel in some of my work. And only having 15 to 36 frames to shoot before reloading does make you slow down. The film will be processed, scanned and made available online by one of the top labs in the country, The Icon in Los Angeles. And The Icon is very familiar with a lot of top pros still using film. They also have an excellent client display, edit and delivery system called The Icon Box which I have been using, very well designed and convenient.



By the way, I have also re-discovered the joy of writing in pencil and keeping a paper calendar again! Retro...!

Thanks and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?"

A Photo Shoot With Chad And Lana And Their Healthy Lifestyle

Chad and Lana just celebrating being married for two years live a lifestyle with health, nutrition and the gym being a major part of their life and relationship. They both participate in BodySpace on BodyBuilding.com, the largest bodybuilding and fitness resource in the world and they were selected by SecondFocus for a photo shoot and a BodySpace video profile. And now watch for them at the end of the year in a photo layout and story by yours truly in Iron Man Magazine. Thanks and take a look...

Click To Play

SecondFocus Photographs The Very Hot Ava Cowan!

Figure model and competitor, Ava Cowan, tells us all about how she looks soooo.... good in her BodySpace Video Profile for BodyBuilding.com, the largest bodybuilding and fitness resource in the world!

Click To Play

Thanks and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?"

Maria Rogers - Behind The Scenes

A look with more behind the scenes segments of the video profile of Maria Rogers. This is a video and photo shoot created for BodyBuilding.com, the largest bodybuilding and fitness resource in the world.

Click To Play

Maria is a figure competitor who is going to be next on stage with 400 others at the prestigious "USA" in Las Vegas in July 2007. She was selected to appear in a "BodySpace" video profile for BodyBuilding.com which included her interview and some behind the scenes views of her photo shoot with SecondFocus.

Thank you for visiting and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?"

Jamie Eason - National Print Ad

A few months ago I had the great fun of doing a shoot with the fabulous Jamie Eason. Jamie Eason is perhaps the top star and top model in the fitness business today. She has been in countless magazines, covers and features. This is just one of the latest from our photo shoot, a national print ad for BodyBuilding.ccom, the largest bodybuilding and fitness resource in the world.



I did a story on the behind the scenes from this shoot with Jamie Eason which you can see right here.

Thanks and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?"

Maria Rogers - The Video

Fitness model Maria Rogers was photographed by SecondFocus for BodyBuilding.com, the largest bodybuilding and fitness resource in the world. Video was also shot during the photo shoot by Mark Peterson of Blue Rabbit Films who edited the content for Maria's BodySpace Profile on BodyBuilding.com. Enjoy the video, it is great fun!

Click To Play

Thanks and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?'

Working Out With Mr. Olympia - Jay Cutler!

I bet a lot of you bodybuilding fans have thought about what it would be like to workout with a pro bodybuilder and even the big man himself - Jay Cutler. Well the only thing I really lifted was a camera but I did get to watch while Jay worked out with his lifting partners in the "Pit" at world famous Muscle Beach right on the boardwalk at the beach in Venice California.

So let me tell you how this happened. I was at the Junior California NPC competition in Pasadena CA on Saturday. Jay was in town as the guest poser for this show along with his good buddy, IFBB Pro Derick Farnsworth. Well I got the phone call in the late afternoon that Jay was possibly going to come out to the "Pit" to workout and he would also be videotaped for his brand new DVD to be released at the end of July.

I am the official photographer for the Muscle Beach Venice shows, so I was lucky enough to get the heads up. Later in the evening I got another message that it was still not confirmed but that I would know by 9 or so the following morning. So Sunday morning came along, I got the call, packed up and checked out of my hotel and headed to the beach. It looked like a good way to spend a Sunday!

Shortly after I got there, Jay came walking along the boardwalk with his buddies. And you can bet there were a lot of looks from the tourists! Although it was a cloudy day there was still plenty of people.

Venice Beach is perhaps the second or third most popular tourist attraction in the world right behind Disneyland and Las Vegas. And at Muscle Beach where most people in the world think muscles were born, the reigning Mr. Olympia came to do his back workout on a Sunday.

The same place where the careers and legends of Arnold and so many else were started. Well after Jay shook hands with some people and took a few photos with the quickly building crowd, Mr. O got down to business.

To see the whole story and more photos just go on over to BodyBuilding.com

I want to thank my very good friend Joe Wheatley for letting me know that Jay was on his way to work out. Joe is the man behind all of the great improvements taking place at Muscle Beach for the last few years. He has brought us some great competitions over the Summer, he is the man behind the BodyBuilding Hall Of Fame Awards and will shortly be officially unveiling the BodyBuilding Walk Of Fame right at the workout "Pit" at Muscle Beach. And with his vision there will one day soon be a BodyBuilding Hall Of Fame right there where it all started. So when you get to Venice Beach, be sure to stop on by, there is a lot to see. Be sure to say Hi to Joe and thank him for all his tireless efforts; And you might want to work out too!


Thanks for looking and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?"

Behind The Scenes With Maria Rogers

I can only say that Maria is off-the-hook hot and one of the most outstanding models I have ever worked with. She is getting ready to do the USA in Las Vegas in July and I would say she is looking pretty good.

The set ups on these shoots can be fairly involved. This was the studio we used in donwtown Los Angeles. However all of the lighting equipment is brought in and set up by us. In total just for the still photography we had 6 people on set from the makeup artist, assistants and so forth. Simple things like making sure we bring food in and have a lot of water on hand are really important.


You have to communicate to models about what the shoot is about and what you are creating. It does take some direction. You cannot just tell a model to move around and fire off a few thousand shots hoping to come up with something good. Some idea of where you are going is very important. Maria was a joy to work with, she was able to just turn it on for the camera and was very aware of how to move and pose to look her best.


When at all possible in a studio I will shoot tethered. That is where the camera is shooting right into the computer and the photos come up on the screen as you go. It allows you to make adjustments to the lighting, set, makeup, hair and a myriad of other things that you might otherwise miss. Here I am shooting while Conrad is watching the screen which is a great help to me because I am really busy. Conrad is a top notch fashion post production designer and provided me with a lot of additional ideas and input. By the way over the course of a shoot like this, I only shot 241 photos. Not the thousands that some might think.


This was a very fun shoot and it resulted in a a great set of three free computer wallpapers of Maria which you can get right here. You will also see Maria in a future print ad series.

Thanks again for visiting and keep coming back if you "Wanna See More...?"

A Very Outstanding Maria!

Spending the day with Maria Rogers doing a studio shoot in Los Angeles certainly was one of the better ways to spend time in L.A. Maria is an amateur figure competitor getting ready to do the prestigious "USA" competition in July in Las Vegas. My often quoted statement about her is that she is just "off-the-hook" hot and an outstanding model.


This was a commercial shoot for BodyBuilding.com, the largest bodybuilding and fitness resource in the world. And you will be seeing a lot more of Maria, if your heart and stamina can handle it! Keep coming back here to catch some more photos of her and some 'behind the scenes' of her photo shoot with me. Thanks!

Training Dogs With Charles Glass

Just a few months ago world famous trainer to the bodybuilding stars of the Olympia stage, Charles Glass, had no idea that behind closed doors we had a plan for him…. Dog Training.


It started out like this; we were all sitting around a conference table at BodyBuilding.com in Boise Idaho. One of the big topics was our print magazine ads and the photography for them. And one of the many ideas that came out of that meeting was using Charles Glass and using him to be training a cat running on a treadmill in a gym. My position was that if you want a cat to run on a treadmill I could get it done but a dog might be easier. And so it was agreed that a dog was it, and an English Bull Dog was the choice. So as I returned to Southern California, the art department went to work on designing a concept and I went to work too. We needed a gym that would be empty, that was part of the concept, and an English Bull Dog that could run on a treadmill. And I had a time rush looking like we were going to need to shoot this within a couple of weeks. We did it.


Now this was not an ordinary English Bull Dog but an actual actor, and a veteran of many big time television commercials and major ad campaigns. It took some looking but I found the right dog. And then I was lucky enough to have a great gym to use, Iron Bodies in Costa Mesa CA. And so it was set for the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. Our own world champ, Bob Cicherillo, gathered up Charles Glass, and our star dog arrived on set with an entourage of two trainers and the owner. They did not however arrive by limo and the press was not invited.


The first thing we had to do was to make sure that our stars, the dog and Charles understood each other. So Charles used a sure fire method that he uses with all Olympia champs, bribery with small food items.


And then Charles explained in depth his training methods and secrets so we would get off on the right paw. Charles did tell me afterward that the dog was quicker to learn and grasped the concepts better than many of his clients.


We did both upper and lower body that day including some bench press.




Preacher bench curls of course are great for biceps, front biceps only.


And of course we got in some cardio.


I did manage to take a few photos along the way while being careful not to fall on Bob from my positon on the ladder. And Bob managed to take it all in and picked up a few training tips himself.


Actually we had a lot of fun and it was one of the more creative bodybuilding ad shoots we had seen anywhere. Bob was actually a lot of help coming up with some really good ideas along the way. And Charles Glass showed himself to be a really good actor. The BodyBuilding.com team told me that they could not stop laughing out loud while they watched the frames of the shoot go by. It is funny. It was not just showing up and taking photographs of a dog. It took some planning, the right people, the right place and the right dog. And it all worked out.

Thanks for taking a look and keep coming back for more!

10,000 Views

This is a milestone for me. A few months back I shot some video of “BodyBuilding Pros Silvio Samuel & Hidetada Yamagishi”. It was edited into a short segment by BodyBuilding.com and it became somewhat of a hit, just today reaching 10,000 views on YouTube. Of course that is less than a lot of videos but I think it’s fun! Take a look at it right here!



Thanks and keep coming back for more!

I Have Been Busy!

Here are a few things that have come around in the last few weeks...

An advertising shoot (appropriately named for this one for sure!)...



The "Cal" Bodybuilding and Figure Competition...



The big Bodybuilding and Figure Competition at Muscle Beach...



A photo shoot with amateur figure competitor, Allison...



And Allison also won at the "Cal"...



Thanks for visiting! More soon, so come on back!

Behind The Scenes On The Bus...

If you have picked up any bodybuilding or health and fitness magazines in the last few months you have seen the BodyBuilding.com "Public Transportation" advertisement. Like so many ads that we do this one started with a phone call to me…


At first thought to some people this would seem pretty simple; get a bus, put some people on it and take some photos. Well it didn’t seem that simple to me because I immediately realized that getting people evenly lit in the interior of a bus to get a lot of good color could be tricky, especially if it ended up being a cloudy day. And then of course there was the part about getting a real transit bus.


Living near the land of movie magic, Hollywood, usually means that you can get anything you want and it all just depends on what it will cost. And as it turned out the bus was available. Actually the place we found had every kind of transit bus you could imagine from 1950’s East Coast buses to current Los Angeles type buses. And while we were finding a bus, I lined up a cast. We had the face of BodyBuilding.com, World Champion Bob Cicherillo, the bigger than life competitor Jerome ‘Hollywood’ Ferguson, stunning fitness model Cara Basso, Mr. Canada Eric DiLauro, and amateur bodybuilding competitors Larry Brown, Eric Domer, and Geoff Etherson, and amateur figure competitor Kim Hill.


Now I have to thank world famous Gold’s Gym in Venice for giving us a place to put this all together in their parking lot behind the gym. So on a sunny morning it all started to happen. A lot of lighting gear got set up, a generator was delivered, the bus showed up and we got going. If you look at the actual ad the things that you don’t see is down the left side of the bus on the outside is a lot of lighting equipment shooting in to the bus at various angles. Down the right side of the bus are two parked cars placed so it looks like the bus is in traffic but so you don’t see that there are no drivers in those cars. At one point we even tried having Bob as our bus driver but we ended up not using that series. The dish you see on the right is an additional strobe that it took to light up Bob deep in the dark in the driver’s seat.


This was another fun shoot and it was interesting to see it all come together from everything from the city permits being delivered to the bus driving in, all of the gear getting set up, the cast arriving and then of course some friends and bystanders. And my personal thanks to everyone who was a part of it.

This next photo is also from a series we did not use. But it does show you what it would look like on an airplane if you put a bunch of bodybuilders in aisle seats in coach! Like my buddy Cicherillo says; when flying you have to change sides of the airplanes each flight so that you get even bruises on the back of your arms from the service cart!


Thanks again for checking in and keep coming back for more!